


Takedown

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Explicit Language, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Sexual Content, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-21
Updated: 2008-06-21
Packaged: 2018-10-01 13:41:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10191158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: When presented with the chance to take down Brian Viglione, the Aurors know they'll have to risk a lot to pull it off. Together, Harry and Draco can get the evidence needed to imprison him for life, but the cost may be greater than they anticipate.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

**Title:** Takedown  
 **Author:** SoftlySweetly  
 **Betas:** Potion_Lady and Sesheta_66  
 **Pairing(s):** Harry/Draco  
 **Rating:** R  
 **Summary:** When presented with the chance to take down Brian Viglione, the Aurors know they'll have to risk a lot to pull it off. Together, Harry and Draco can get the evidence needed to imprison him for life, but the cost may be greater than they anticipate.  
 **Warnings:** Slash, Light-H/C, Adult Themes & Language, EWE  
 **Total word count:** ~9,000  
 **Disclaimer:** This story/artwork is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
 **Author's notes:** Written for Zness in the Animagus round at HD_Inspired on LiveJournal.

 

 

 

 

Groaning softly, Draco rolled out of bed and staggered towards the bathroom. The shower was running, and Draco wiped steam off the mirror to study himself carefully. Running his fingers over his skin, Draco pressed down against the bruise on his neck, wincing slightly and moving his fingers away. He ached pleasantly and knew that once he'd had a hot shower, he'd be set up for a brilliant day. 

Glancing up as the shower door swung open, Draco caught his lover's eyes and held them in the mirror as the other man stepped close behind him. Their eye contact broke as the man's head lowered and his lips pressed against the bruise in a gentle mimic of the act that had made the mark in the first place.

"Want this healing?"

"I'll do it later."

Another kiss to his neck and then eyes were raised, and Draco exhaled slowly at the intensity of the gaze. For a moment they wavered, both stood on the brink of forgetting the world with each other.

"The shower is all yours."

Draco nodded, watching his lover turn around and exit the bathroom. He stayed by the sink until he felt the wards ripple, a sign that he was now alone in the house. Smiling, he ran a brush through his hair and stepped into the shower, flicking the radio on with a careless hand as he began his morning rituals.

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Entering his office, Draco glared at the flock of memos hovering around his desk, but knew it was pointless hexing them – anti-incendiary charms were woven into the parchment as standard, after one too many memos had been incinerated by overworked staff without ever being read. Hanging his cloak neatly on the hook behind his door, Draco waved his wand at the coffee pot, setting it to heat while he slid into his chair and Summoned the three red memos to him, knowing they were the most urgent.

The coffee was poured into his mug by the charmed pot, and Draco took an absent-minded sip as he considered his response. He'd earned his stripes at the Auror Academy, and proved that he was loyal to the Ministry which, though hard, had been worth it, as he now held one of the coveted Special Auror positions. It gave him power and respect, and provided him with a range of cases to close. His position meant he fielded hundreds of queries and requests for his opinion, and Draco jotted down a quick response to the request from Law on the plausibility of getting an Auror to work with them permanently as a liaison. He knew that the memo would have also been sent for the opinions of his three peers – Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Susan Bones – as well as to his boss, Gawain Robards.

Draining his coffee cup and having dealt with the urgent memos, Draco refilled the cup and Summoned the remainder of the memos to him, jotting down Wizengamot dates in his diary, and replying to the questions and queries about cases he'd worked. He was almost halfway through the stack of memos when there was a knock at his door, and Harry's head stuck in. Draco smiled and set his quill down. "Hey you, get ahead on your paperwork?"

"The early start helped, but it's never ending. The bleeding idiots in Finance keep bouncing back my equipment requests because _we don't have the money_. And I keep trying to explain to them that I'm well aware of the financial state of the Ministry, because my boyfriend and I make regular contributions to it, and all those seized goods after the War guaranteed we'd be in the black for centuries, so there's no need to be such damn knut-clenchers. But do they listen?"

"They're just doing their job. I heard O'Keefe told them to bounce all requests three times, because if it doesn't come back a fourth time, the Department didn't want it to begin with."

Harry growled at this and Draco gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Sit down, stay a while."

"Miss me already?" Harry smirked, but he moved to the chair, leaning over the desk to drop a kiss on Draco's cheek. They didn’t hide that they were together, but they didn't broadcast it either. As such, they'd managed to keep it out of the public domain, and that suited both of them perfectly. 

"I always miss you. My aim is terrible!"

The joke got a laugh from Harry, and Draco Summoned a mug for him, returning his attention to the memo in his hands and scribbling a terse response before he sent it off again. 

"Have you seen the one from Ron?"

"Nope. What's it about?"

"Break in the Viglione case, apparently."

That caught Draco's attention, and he set his parchment down and picked up his coffee, blowing across the surface and taking a sip. "Really? I didn’t think we'd ever see a break in that. Do you know what he's found?"

Harry shook his head, and silence fell between them as both pondered the case. Even though he didn't know what the break was, Draco felt a sense of respect for Ron. The Viglione case had been unbreakable for as long as Draco remembered, and though he and his fellow Special Aurors regularly tried to break it, they'd never been able to find a chink in Viglione's armor. He was suspected – no, he was _confirmed_ – to be running an illegal House Elf ring, selling the creatures into slavery under the Ministry's radar.

It had been one of Hermione's initiatives, to register all House Elves and the families they served. After the War, when their world was picking itself up and dusting itself off, the House Elves had gone back to their families. And those without families had seemed lost. So they were assigned to new families, and even Hermione had admitted they were happier serving than they had been alone. The Ministry required all House Elves to be registered, and kept a record of which family they served. This was not to control the House Elves, but to protect them – they had their own contact point in the Ministry, who they went to if they were mistreated. The abuse of House Elves was no longer tolerated, and the Elves themselves were learning to trust the Ministry. Families with House Elves were subject to spot-checks, and were prosecuted harshly if it was found that they were not treating their House Elf fairly. As such, there was a market for illegal House Elves – those unregistered with the Ministry, who would not be checked up on. Viglione was the kingpin of that section of magical underworld.

But they couldn't prove it. Though everyone knew it was him, no one could prove it in a way that would stand up in the Wizengamot and bring his whole operation crashing down. Unwilling to have the operation passed onto someone else and moved out of their grasp, the Ministry held fire, allowing only Special Aurors to work quietly on the case, under the tacit agreement that no move would be made until it was guaranteed they'd be able to end this. 

"Do you think it's enough to take him down?"

Harry shrugged in response to Draco's question, and Draco leafed through his memos until he spotted Ron's script. It gave no hint as to the break, just a note that there would be a nine o'clock meeting in the briefing room. Glancing up at the clock, Draco drained his coffee and stood up. "Come on, there's only ten minutes, we might as well go down there now.

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco stared at Ron, processing the information, and leaning forwards. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Ron nodded, and ran his hands through his hair. "Would you be prepared to do it?"

"It's the best chance we've ever had in this case. Of course I'll do it. What do you think, Sir?"

Robards pressed his fingers together, closing his eyes as his quick mind worked out the pros and cons. "We'll need to check with the Regulation of Creatures Department, and probably a few Animal Keepers, to make sure that the memories can be retrieved from you in this manner. If they give us the go ahead, we'll start working out a plan of attack. We have three weeks before the buy, and if Weasley's contact is sound, then we'll be able to get you in, no problem."

Draco nodded, running his hands through his hair and exhaling. Looking at the four other people in the room, he knew the sense of nervous excitement was present in all of them – Ron's intelligence had given them a shot at breaking the Viglione case. "Do you want me to go out and check with the Department now?"

"Yes. Then go and talk to Rubeus Hagrid – we know we can trust him to keep quiet. Potter, you go with Malfoy. Weasley, you and Bones start forming a plan of attack. I'll speak to Palmer, and get her to take over your cases and split the workload between the other Aurors and Junior Aurors. Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco closed the door to Harry's office behind him, and reached out to rest his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You were quiet in there."

"I… if we go ahead with this, you'll be in danger."

"Yes, I will. But that's the job, Harry." Draco waited for Harry's nod of acceptance, before stepping forwards and pressing a gentle kiss to Harry's lips. "I'll be fine, Harry, because I have you to come home to."

A soft smile and another gentle kiss confirmed that Harry would cope with the assignment, and Draco opened the door again, already planning out a vague way to get the information he needed from the Regulation of Creatures Department, and a more truthful way to get Hagrid's opinion on the plan. He'd never thought he'd see the day that he was excited about following out one of Ron's plans, but Draco knew a lot had changed since the War, not least his opinion of Harry's best friend, who had kept his mouth spectacularly shut regarding Draco and Harry's relationship for the year and a half that he had known about it. 

The plan was simple; get a spy inside Viglione's home. It was something they'd been trying to do, but failed miserably at. Now, however, they had a genuine chance. Ron had an informant in the world of exotic pets, who had received word that Brian Viglione was looking to purchase a cat. More specifically, a big cat. One that would look threatening and could be used to intimidate those who dared to cross him. 

And Draco's animagus form just happened to be that of a snow leopard.

All Aurors were required to study to become animagi, and they were registered as soon as they succeeded. Then, they were trained in methods to keep their human minds when they transformed. Some were better at it than others, and Draco had always been one of the best in his class. It was a useful skill to have, especially on stakeouts, where an owl or starling was much less conspicuous. Or hunts, where the speed and instincts of a natural predator succeeded where magic couldn't. 

Recently, the Department of Mysteries had perfected a way to perform Legilimency on willing participants from afar. If this technique could be used on Draco in his animagus form, it would allow his co-workers to see into his thoughts, giving them any information he gleaned without putting him at risk of discovery through having to make notes or pass things on to a contact. There were a lot of ifs, but Draco had a good feeling about this plan – it was the closest they'd ever come to bringing Viglione down, and Draco intended to do everything in his power to make it work.

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

It was gone ten when they got home, and Draco wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep. The conversations with the Department for Regulation of Creatures, and with Hagrid, had gone well, and they knew that theoretically the spell should work on Draco when he was transformed.

"Ron has point on this, and he's told Robards that he wants me to be the one linking to your mind."

"Robards knows about us; he'd have made it be you regardless of what Ron wanted." Draco glanced up, and nodded at the question on Harry's face. "I didn't tell him, but he does know. He's trained to know these things."

"I suppose," Harry murmured, flicking on the bedroom light and stripping his clothes off, throwing them haphazardly at the clothes basket. Draco tutted and waved his wand at them, getting them in the basket and stripping his own clothes off, sending them to join Harry's. Climbing into bed next to Harry, Draco smiled when he was caught in a gentle kiss. 

They fell easily into a rhythm, and though Draco had wanted nothing but sleep, he opened his legs greedily, wanting Harry to nestle between them and love him softly. The movements were familiar, a joining of souls through bodies that reflected more love than passion, but nonetheless brought completion to them both. 

Lay together in the afterglow, Draco trailed his fingers over Harry's arm as his lover spooned behind him, and pressed a kiss to the elbow his head was rested on. "I'll be okay. Get in, see as much as I can, and then wait for you to come and get me out."

"And you're okay with the thought of me rifling around in your mind?"

"You're the only person I'd trust to do it. Why, afraid of what you might find?"

"Should I be?"

"Nah, there's only the treasured memories of my steamy affairs, and the code to my Swiss bank account."

Harry laughed, squeezing Draco tighter and nipping his shoulder playfully. "Aaah, well that's okay then. As long as there are no memories of you and Goyle getting it on in the Dungeons, I'll survive."

"Honestly, Harry! Even as a horny teenager, I had _standards_!"

"Of course you did, Draco. Remind me how long you dated Pansy for?"

Draco laughed and elbowed Harry gently in the ribs. "Quit it, you, and go to sleep."

A chaste kiss brushed over his shoulder, and Draco smiled as he closed his eyes and settled more comfortably against Harry. He knew his partner was worried – he was worried too – but this was too good an opportunity to miss. Almost asleep, Draco murmured quietly, "When we bring Viglione down, we should ask for some holiday time."

"We're more likely to get invited to the freezing over of Hell than get holiday time. But you keep dreaming, leopard-boy. G'night."

"'Night."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco rapped his knuckles on the door to Harry's office, and waited for an invitation before he stepped inside. "Hey, any joy?"

"Yeah. Ron's secured things with his contact; he needs some pictures of you in your animagus form, for the breeder to pass on to Viglione. Then you'll be there at the show, and hopefully Viglione will buy you."

"Of course he'll buy me; I'm too perfect to walk away from."

"If you say so. Are you ready?"

Draco nodded, waiting while Harry grabbed his wand, and then leading the way down to the Department of Mysteries. They were both going to be put on an intensive training course with the Unspeakables who had perfected the long-range Legilimency spell, to ensure that they had it mastered before Draco was sent undercover; transformed, his only defence would be conveying to Harry that he needed rescuing, as magic would be beyond him. Draco didn't anticipate any problems; when he'd been tracking Rodolphus Lestrange through the mountain ranges of Afghanistan, he'd been in his animagus form for three weeks, and not lost his sense of human self. There was no way he'd be in Viglione's house for that long – just a few days at most, while he witnessed enough to secure a conviction and bring down the trade in illegal House Elves. 

As they walked down the corridor, Amanda Palmer stepped out of her shared office and stopped them. The woman had qualified as an Auror two years ago, and already showed a lot of promise – Draco intended to sponsor her for the Special Auror position when the next place opened up for the taking in the winter. 

"Robards wants to see you two, and he's pissed off."

"At us?"

"I don't think so. Why, guilty conscience, Potter?"

"Always, Palmer, always. Thanks for the heads up."

Draco nodded his agreement with Harry's words, grinning at Palmer as he turned neatly on his heel and followed Harry back the way they'd come, passing Harry's office and then his own, walking to the very end of the corridor and waiting while Harry knocked on the door to Robards' office.

"Enter."

Draco clicked the door closed behind them, and moved to stand next to Harry, raking his eyes over Robards and seeing all the telltale signs of a bureaucratic dispute – clenched fists, ruffled hair, and the distinct smell produced by a stinging hex. "Who'd you hex, Sir?"

"That gobshite from Personnel, Michael Corden…"

"Corner, Sir," Draco corrected.

"Gobshite will do. Little brat told me that Personnel had to be _kept informed of all operations, to ensure the safety of all employees of the Ministry of Magic_." 

Robards' tone was dripping with sarcasm, and Draco couldn't help but smirk. "And how many pieces was he sent home in, Sir?"

"Still together, but distinctly singed around the edges. Mouthy little pipsqueak; I didn't fight in a War so that dimwits like him could try and smarm me into telling them things that are none of their business! As if he'd be able to find his arse with both hands, much less tell whether a situation was safe for one of my men or not."

Draco laughed out loud at that, and sank into one of the chairs in front of Robards' desk when his boss sat down. One of the great things about having earned this revered position within the Department was the camaraderie it brought him with his boss. Robards expected complete honesty and loyalty from his Aurors, and in return he cultivated relationships with them that were open and truthful. Accepting the coffee Robards conjured, Draco crossed his legs and rested the mug on his bent knee. "So, did you convince him into green-lighting the operation?"

"The little bastard held firm, and now we've got to go all the way to Minister Shacklebolt to get his decision overridden."

"Couldn't you just outvote him?"

"No; finance voted on his side – Weasley promised a fair few Galleons to his contact, and you know that finance believes we're in the red."

Draco rolled his eyes, and heard Harry scoffing beside him. Any operation that the Aurors launched had to be green-lighted by other departments. Finance had to approve the projected budget, Personnel had to approve the staff members sent, and agree that they were not being placed in an unreasonable situation – which Draco had never really understood, because the whole point of Aurors was to go into unreasonable situations and ensure they ended well. The Unspeakables got a vote as well, but they always sided with the Aurors; they understood the work that was done, because there was so much overlap with their own jobs. Normally, everyone did what the Aurors suggested, partly because Robards had a reputation for hexing _parchment-pushers_ as he not-so-affectionately termed them, but mainly because they knew that the Aurors were the best of the best, and Robards had led them successfully in the War, earning himself an Order of Merlin, First Class.

But Michael Corner was out to make a name for himself, and Draco was vexed that his chosen way seemed to be trying to make the Aurors account for their actions. Yes, the rules were that Personnel had full disclosure to the details of an operation, but that never happened; Personnel had big mouths and small brains, and couldn't be trusted to keep a cauldron of water wet, much less keep a highly-sensitive operation secret. 

However, Draco knew that Minister Shacklebolt would green-light them – he understood the pressures faced by the Aurors, having been one himself, so Draco knew they were safe to start planning as though they already had the green-light. "Who's going to Minister Shacklebolt?"

"I will," Robards answered, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. "He has enough to deal with as it is. Have you heard the latest on the Gerard fiasco?"

Draco shook his head, looking to Harry when the other man laughed dryly. "When did that become a fiasco?"

Robards smirked, "About the same time it came out he wasn't just breeding Fire-Breathing chickens, he was deflowering them as well."

Harry burst out laughing, and Draco screwed his face up in disgust. "I always knew he was a vile little man."

"Little being the operative word, if the chickens could take him."

"Potter, don't be uncouth. I'm going to go and speak to the Minister; you two need to get down to the Unspeakables' lair and start training."

Grinning at the gentle jibe, Draco stood up, draining his mug and ducking his head respectfully to his boss before leading the way out of Robards' office, heading towards the lift at the end of the corridor. As the doors to the lift closed, Draco sniggered softly. "People use the word 'deflowered'?"

"Yep. Virgins, mostly."

"I didn't need to hear that."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco had no doubt that, if he'd thought he could get away with it, Robards would have had them working all day, every day, until they had Viglione safe in their custody. However, even he had to accept that his staff needed a break; thus, Draco and Harry both had Sunday off.

Waking Harry with soft kisses, Draco slid down his body and lost himself under the covers, working on feel as he brought Harry to blissful, sleep-tinged pleasure. Wriggling back up, Draco moved easily into more kisses, their mouths exploring each other as Harry recovered himself and rolled them over, breaking from Draco's mouth to explore his collar and chest in lazy trails of kisses and nips. Draco whimpered as fingers and mouth brought him his own release, and he kept his eyes closed as he basked in the afterglow.

"What do you want to do today?" Harry asked, peppering kisses over Draco's stomach in between his words.

"Mmm, guess."

"Good idea. How about we train this morning, and reward ourselves this afternoon?"

Draco nodded, hauling himself out of bed and muttering a cleaning charm over his body before heading to the dresser to comb his hair.

"Not getting dressed?"

"Pointless, if I'm transforming."

Harry nodded in agreement, and Draco waited while his lover pulled on jeans and a tee shirt, quietly thrilled that Harry hadn't bothered with underwear. Checking their wards – a force of habit both of them had followed since the War – they headed down into the converted basement that they used as a training space. While Harry prepared to cast, Draco turned his awareness and magic inwards, focusing on his own body and relaxing his muscles in sequence, from his neck to his ankles. Transforming was a difficult process to explain, and Draco still remembered the frustration of not being able to manage it. It required a person to let go of their humanity, but retain a hold on their soul. Draco had scoffed at that explanation to begin with, but after transforming, knew it was the closest way to explain it. He'd still be him, but his perception would change, become more basic as he shed some human concepts. When he re-transformed to his human state, he'd have a clear recollection of what he'd seen, and would be able to add a human perspective to it.

Focusing on the magic thrumming through his body, Draco pushed it gently, forcing it to disperse equally through his body, through the various layers of muscle and fat, and as deep as his very bone marrow. When his whole body was tingling gently, Draco cleared his mind and snapped his magic back into his centre. For a few seconds, it felt like Apparation – being squeezed through a tube that was not big enough for him – as his body contracted rapidly. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling, and Draco was glad when it faded. 

Rolling his head, Draco paced in a circle, flicking his tail forward to stroke over his face, checking that all was in place. It took a few paces to get his balance, and then Draco was ready, turning his head and mapping out a visual of the room he was in. His attention was caught by the man at the far end, and Draco stalked towards him slowly, sniffing around him and purring as he recognised his mate. The man showed no fear of him, holding out his hand and waiting while Draco recognised his scent. Allowing himself to be stroked softly, Draco pulled away in favour of exploring the other areas of the space he was in.

His breathing dropped to a dangerous growl, and Draco snapped around, looking for the source of the pressure in his head. Eyes focusing in on the man again, Draco stalked towards him, moving in sweeping arcs to ensure the man realised he was not permitted to leave. The man moved, resting on his knees and keeping his head bowed as Draco approached him, still growling warningly as he drew level and nudged firmly at the man with his head.

The words spoken were unrecognisable, but Draco heard the tone and the tempo, and was calmed by them. He moved his mouth to the man's neck, opening his jaw and licking along the place where the man's scent was strongest. Satisfied, Draco drew back, sitting down and meeting the man's eyes evenly. The pressure in his head was back, and Draco yielded to it. He felt movement inside his mind, but no cause for alarm. After a few minutes, in which the man never looked away, Draco felt the pressure and the movement end, and he pounced forward suddenly, knocking the man onto his back and settling atop him to nuzzle against his neck. Strong arms came around him, hands running assuredly down his flanks, and Draco purred softly as he pushed out against himself.

The squeezing lasted for a few seconds, and then Draco was back to his human self, lay on top of Harry and slightly dazed. Shaking his head to clear the fuzz, Draco leant down and kissed Harry firmly. "Did it work?"

"Yeah. The leopard likes me."

"Recognises you as mate, that's why."

Harry smiled at him and Draco leant down for another kiss, scowling as Harry ducked his head to the side. 

"We need to practise this from a distance."

"Later. Let's not let my nakedness go to waste."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

While the rest of their team sorted out the logistics, Harry and Draco kept practising the long-distance Legilimency. It didn't affect Draco much – all he had to do was ignore the slight pressure in his head, and that was easy enough. His natural instincts were to look around and map out his surroundings, and that would not cause question once he was inside Viglione's home. For Harry, however, the spell was more draining – he had to maintain the connection, and rifle through Draco's memories to find the ones he needed. As Draco didn't spend much time in his Animagus form, there weren't many memories to go through, but it was still a tiring process, and as the days rolled on, Harry took on a set of permanent circles under his eyes.

Robards gave them the day before the exotic pet auction, and they'd used it to stay in bed and indulge each other. 

"Will you be all right?"

The question roused Draco from his half-sleep, and he lifted his head off the pillows to meet Harry's concerned eyes. "Yes, I will be. Will you?"

"Nothing a bit of Pepper-Up potion can't handle. Draco, don't… don't take any risks, okay? He isn’t worth you being hurt."

"Harry, I'll be fine. You just focus on getting the information we need, and storming the place when you have enough evidence."

Harry nodded, and Draco moved on top of him, soothing their nerves with soft touches as he forgot about what rested on this operation for the time being.

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco prowled the boundaries of his cage, snarling at anyone who came too close to him, and flexing his claws threateningly over the base of the cage. He hated being trapped like this, and couldn't wait to be free again. One man kept coming back to his cage and Draco recognised him as an enemy, but one to be wary of. When the man returned yet again, Draco prowled up to the edge of the cage, holding the man's gaze fearlessly. He was angered when the man didn't back down and snarled warningly, knowing the impressive rows of sharp teeth would threaten the human. Though he was not disposed to harm for the sake of harming, Draco would harm if he felt threatened, and trapped in this cage, he felt threatened.

The man, however, did not back away. Draco turned his head, watching carefully as the man spoke with others of his kind. Feeling pressure against his head, Draco recognised it as his mate and yielded willingly. The voices rose and fell, and the man came back to him, speaking to him quietly. Draco growled warningly, but the man did not back down. Instead, he moved his hand through the bars of the cage, exposing the weak-point of his wrist. 

Needing to assert his dominance, Draco ignored the pressure in his head for the moment, and moved quickly, snapping his jaw around the man's wrist and pressing down. He did not taste blood, but he tasted the man's scent, and it was fearless. Opening his jaw again, Draco released the man's arm and studied his face, seeing the man make the face his mate made when pleased. More noises that Draco could not comprehend, and then the cage he was in was moving.

Pacing, Draco growled warningly; he was confused, and anyone stupid enough to put their hand through the bars would not get off as lightly as the man had. His surroundings were moving, changing continuously, and Draco prowled in tight circles, baring his teeth and taking in the changing scenery. Soon the outdoors disappeared from view, and he was inside an enclosed space that was dark and had a new, unpleasant scent of fear. Though his surroundings were not changing, he was still moving, and Draco flattened himself to the floor of the cage, tail swishing dangerously as he waited out this new situation. 

After a time, the movement stopped and light flooded his enclosure, before his cage began moving again. Draco blinked, barely getting used to the bright daylight before he was out of it again. The man who showed him no fear was nowhere to be seen, and the men around his cage reeked of fear, empowering Draco as he rose up and prowled in tight circles, taking in his surroundings. The scent of the men's fear did nothing to hide the stench of animal-fear that lay thick and heavy in the air, and Draco growled. His instincts told him to follow the fear, for it may lead to food, and he pushed his muzzle experimentally against the bars, growling when they didn’t give way. 

Noise, coming from the men, and Draco yelped as a foreign sensation washed over him. He turned around, intending to savage whoever was behind him, but stopped when he was able to step beyond the boundaries of his cage. One set of bars had moved, and Draco stilled, crouching to the ground as he waited. No attack came, and slowly Draco rose, turning his head to study his surroundings. He'd almost forgotten about the pressure in his head; he was more focused on finding the source of the animal-fear. When no attack was forthcoming, Draco sprang forward, causing panic and confusion among the men as he bounded off, following the scent until he found himself trapped in a long corridor. 

Rising up on his hind legs, Draco pushed his strong forelegs against the thing blocking him from the scent, purring when it trembled and gave under his strength, allowing him to follow the scent down and toward its source. It was dark, and it took Draco a moment to see clearly. He saw the animals huddled together, producing the thick, pungent scent of fear, but knew they were not food. He could not name them, and Draco prowled in front of them, studying them closely to try and fathom out what they were. 

As he stared them out, the pressure in his head intensified then disappeared, and Draco snarled at it, angered that his mate had seen fit to leave him. Turning his attention back to the animals, Draco advanced on them slowly, wanting to taste one; perhaps they were a new food. He got closer, but then pain flashed through his nose, and Draco yelped as he retreated, unable to identify the source of the pain.

His attention shifted when he heard the fearless man's voice, and Draco crouched back, poising himself to attack if he needed to and growling warningly. The man did not back down, and Draco could smell food on him. Moving forward slightly, Draco growled when the man moved, and studied the meat the man had put down before him. The man kept his head lowered, and Draco knew this was a peace offering. Sniffing at the meat, he couldn't identify the animal, but he knew it was food. Growling warningly at the man, Draco waited until he backed off before he lowered his head and tore a strip of flesh off. The meat was good, and Draco stripped the bone cleanly, licking around his mouth to catch all the traces of food. The man was speaking again, his tone high and tempo fast, and Draco registered this as a good thing. 

He went to prowl closer to the man, but pain lanced through his body, and all Draco could do was yowl as the world went black around him.

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Though he'd been told he didn’t need to come on the raid, Harry had to be there to find Draco; he was worried about his lover. Through the long-distance Legilimency, Harry had seen everything Draco had seen, and gotten enough memories stored in an evidence pensieve to ensure Viglione never saw the light of day again. He was proud that Draco's instincts had forced him to look for the trapped House Elves, because it meant Draco had to spend hardly any time in Viglione's house.

A red flare shot into the air, and Harry knew that was the sign. The entire Auror division, bar Palmer, who had stayed behind to man the Department, and most of the Unspeakables, were on this raid, storming Viglione's house to bring his operation to a crashing halt. As always, the initial raid seemed to blur past Harry's awareness, hexes and curses cast and dodged, shouting and swearing as they utilised the element of surprise to clean up, moving steadily through the house and Stunning everyone they came across. When they'd cleared all the rooms, and had Viglione Bound, Stunned, and under the guard of three Aurors, Harry followed Ron and Robards down the corridor and through the fake wall panel that hid the House Elves. The creatures were terrified, but Harry ignored them for now, looking around the room as Ron disabled the wards.

"Where's Draco?"

The House Elves were moving and chattering, but the wards they were behind prevented Harry from making out what they were saying. He turned, intending to leave and find Draco, panic building in his chest, but he stopped when he felt the wash of magic that accompanied the wards falling down. 

"He killed him!"

"The animal, he killed him!"

"Bad man, bad man!"

Snapping around, Harry gaped at the chattering House Elves and shot red sparks from the end of his wand, silencing them instantly. "What animal? A snow leopard? Big, white cat?"

After a lot of pushing and shoving, one House Elf was forced forwards, and he seemed to cower under Harry's intense gaze. 

"He be giving it some meat, and it be dying!"

Harry's heart seemed to stop, and he bent down, grabbing the House Elf's arm and shaking him hard. "Where did he take the animal?"

The House Elf pointed a trembling finger to the corner of the dark room, and Harry cast a spell, relieved to see the glimmer of wards. Ignoring the words of Ron and his boss, Harry stepped forward and disabled the wards with a wave of his wand, crying out when he saw Draco sprawled on the floor. He didn’t look to be moving, and Harry whimpered as he dropped to his knees, resting his hand on Draco's furred flank. Draco was still warm, and Harry held his breath as he pressed his hand down firmer, yelping when he felt a faint heartbeat. "He's still alive! We need to get him to Hagrid, fast!"

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco groaned softly, and cracked his eyes open. His head was pounding and his body ached. Not in a delicious, post-sex way, but in a worrying, post-getting his arse kicked way. The light was too bright, and he didn't recognise his surroundings, which worried Draco. He vaguely remembered the feelings and situations he'd experienced while transformed, and Draco wondered if the rest of the team had come yet, or if he was still trapped in Viglione's house.

"Draco, you awake?"

That voice told him he was safe, and Draco nodded softly, wincing at the pain that simple action caused in him. "What…"

"Ssssh, don't try and talk. I need to go and get the Healers, I'll be right back."

Draco nodded again, closing his eyes against the harsh lights and mentally assessing himself. He started at his toes, flexing muscles and rotating joints, all the way up to crinkling his nose and scrunching his eyelids. Though painful, everything did what it was supposed to do, and as Draco decided that he hadn't come to any lasting physical damage, the sound of footsteps entered the room, and a new voice sounded out.

"Aaah, Auror Malfoy, we've been quite worried about you."

Swallowing, Draco took a deep breath and spoke quietly, his voice rasping from lack of use. "What happened?"

"You were poisoned. Luckily you were found in time, and Auror Potter rushed you to a… aaah…" parchment rustled before the Healer resumed, "to a Mr. Rubeus Hagrid's home. You were in your Animagus form, and the…" parchment rustled again, "…the snow leopard had to be cured before we could change you back to human form and assess the damage. Luckily for you, there's no permanent damage. You'll have to stay here twenty-four hours for observation, then you'll be free to go."

Draco opened his eyes, nodding briefly at the Healer before the older man left. Turning his head to the side, Draco shot Harry a droll smile, "So reassuring when the Healer knows exactly what happened without having to check his notes."

Harry laughed, but the sound was more nerves than mirth, and Draco struggled into a sitting position, quietly glad when Harry tutted and immediately moved to help him,. propping pillows up behind his back and making sure he was comfortable before perching on the side of the bed. "Start at the beginning, and tell me everything."

Draco listened intently as Harry described what had happened. Though the story was delivered in a flat, even voice, Draco could see the emotions playing out in Harry's eyes, and he reached out to lace his fingers with Harry's, offering silent support as he processed the words. 

The long-distance Legilimency had worked beautifully, and Harry had managed to find the area of Draco's mind that recorded what he saw before it was brushed back into his memories. That allowed Harry to see what Draco saw almost at the same time as Draco saw it himself, and also meant he could hear the words being spoken, that Draco had failed to understand. When Draco had run in search of the House Elves, what he'd seen had given them all the proof they needed to imprison Viglione for life, and Harry had withdrawn from the spell to come with the others on the raid. 

Interrogation after the fact, and the testimony of the House Elves had filled in the rest of the story – Draco had been offered a leg of lamb, laced with poison. Harry visibly shook when he recounted the details of his interview with Viglione, when the corrupt wizard had taunted Harry with the knowledge that someone had tipped him off that the snow leopard was an Auror in disguise, but effective Oblivation meant he didn't know who, and even Veritaserum didn't help. 

"Well, at least he didn't know that we were going to be using long-distance Legilimency to communicate what I saw. It could have been worse."

Harry scoffed, and reached up to run his fingers through Draco's hair. "You nearly died, Draco. How could it have been worse?"

"Well, if he'd known about the long-distance Legilimency, he wouldn't have taken me in to begin with. The fact that he didn't know about it means that our leak isn't you, me, Ron, Susan, Robards, or those two Unspeakables that taught us; the leak wouldn't have withheld the information that allowed us to secure conviction."

Harry nodded, and sighed softly. "Yeah, that's what Robards figured. So now we have to act like he was just a vicious prick, while we try and weed out our rat."

"You're not on that case, are you?"

"No. Robards has suspended me on compassionate leave. I can't go back until you go back, and neither of us are allowed anywhere near the investigation."

"That's going to look really suspicious, it'll give the game away!"

"The game's already been given away."

"Then how can we quietly find the leak?"

"Not that game. Our game. You and me."

Draco's mouth made a small 'o' of surprise, and Harry coloured up beautifully. "I thought you were going to die. I love you, Draco, and I can't bear the thought of losing you. Those reporters that track large bursts of magic and investigate them to see if it's a story, well, they found our raid. On the way out, I had you in my arms, and I was really worried, desperate even. I needed to get you to Hagrid, so that he could stop the poison in the leopard, and then I could get you to Mungo's and they'd fix the rest. And I may have, possibly, quite accidentally, hexed a few journalists that got in my way."

"And how did they interpret this as love for me, and not an unhealthy attraction to snow leopards?" Draco inquired, his sarcasm as biting as ever, even if he had been on Death's doorstep for a while.

"I might have been saying things out loud."

"Things?"

"PleaseDracodon'tdieIloveyou…" Harry answered in one rushed breath, the colour in his cheeks intensifying as Draco deciphered the words and raised a brow at him. 

Taking pity on his blushing lover, Draco leant forwards and brushed a kiss over his heated cheek. "I love you, too."

"I know we were trying to keep it quiet and not let everyone know, but…"

"But now they do know. That's okay, Harry." Draco smiled reassuringly, resting back against the pillows and letting his eyes slide closed. "So, how long have I been out?"

"Two days."

"That explains why you smell so bad. Go sign me out; I hate hospitals, and you'll take much better care of me than these incompetent fools. Then we can go home and I can sleep in a comfortable bed while you have a shower or three."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Draco woke when the raised voices filtered through the closed bedroom door and disturbed his dreams. Blinking rapidly, he sat up and ignored the pain in his limbs as he tried to focus on the words. He could recognise Harry's voice, and what may be Ron's voice. Sighing, Draco climbed out of bed and pulled on his trousers, slinging his outer robe over the top and grabbing his wand.

As he staggered down the stairs, the voices reached a crescendo and then stopped abruptly with the crack of Apparation. Draco sped up, entering the living room just as Ron tossed powder into the fireplace. "Don't you dare; what's going on?"

The redhead turned around slowly, and Draco saw the worry in his expression as he answered, "Harry's… shit, I wasn't supposed to tell him until we had her in custody, I didn't think he'd bolt like that."

"For Merlin's sake, Ron, you know what a temper he has, and… hang on, _she_? You've identified the leak?"

"We think so."

"Who?"

"Draco, you need to rest up and…"

" _Who_?"

Ron sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, leaning back against the mantle as he answered, "Palmer."

"Palmer? Amanda Palmer? _Our_ Amanda Palmer?" Ron nodded, and Draco sank down onto the sofa, mouth still hanging open in shock. He'd trusted her, gone on missions with her, given up his time to train her, planned to suggest her for the Special Auror position, and all this time she'd been in Viglione's pocket, given Draco up to his death? "You're certain?"

"Yeah. Her brother's bank account has been receiving regular payments, but he's unemployed, so it isn't a salary. We traced it back, and it's coming from Viglione's Gringotts vault. I'm sorry, Draco, I know you and her got on."

"Yes, we did. Where is she now?"

"I don't know."

"Then where has Harry gone?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders, and Draco exhaled slowly. All he could do was pray that the other Aurors found her before Harry did, or that Harry had the good sense to take her in and not deal with her himself. "You'd best go, I have to set the wards before I floo in to the Ministry."

Draco turned his back and began setting the wards as he listened to the floo roar into life. Sighing softly, he Summoned their medicine box from the kitchen, downing a pain-relief potion and slipping a second vial into his pocket for later. Checking the wards one last time, Draco grabbed a handful of floo powder and went directly to the fireplace in the Auror Department. 

The first thing he heard upon stepping out of the floo was Robards' voice bouncing off the walls as he yelled at someone Draco took to be Ron. Heading down the corridor, Draco knocked once before opening the door and striding into Robards' office.

"Malfoy, what in the name of Merlin are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Mungo's!"

"Harry signed me out, and I'm here because he appears to have gone AWOL. Are you certain it was Palmer?"

Robards growled, and a look of anger passed over his face that was so strong it made Draco step back slightly. 

"Oh yes, we're sure. She called in sick the day after the raid, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. And Merlin knows we won't again if Potter gets to her before we do."

"He isn't a killer, Sir!"

"For you, he could be. You were conveniently dying, Malfoy, you didn’t see him. I, and the rest of the Wizarding World, did. I suppose it'd be pointless telling you to go home, but I'm ordering you to stay in this office. We'll go and drag Potter in, by his bollocks if we have to, you just stay here and try not to get poisoned again."

Draco nodded, sitting down on the sofa in the corner as he mused on why it was that he was the only one in this situation that hadn't broken a law or disobeyed an order, yet he still felt like he'd been told off. But even that injustice couldn't distract him for long, and within minutes he was up and pacing the room, worrying on what Harry thought he was going to achieve by doing this. He was pacing for almost an hour before noise exploded outside the office, and Draco stuck his head out of the door, relieved to see Harry in one piece, still able to walk and swear. "Harry!"

"What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed!"

"You're supposed to be looking after me! What were you playing at?"

Before Harry could respond, Robards stepped forwards and shoved Harry towards Draco and the office door. "Both of you in there, and you can explain yourself, Potter."

Draco stepped back, glaring at Harry as his lover walked past him, and moved to sit down in front of Robards' desk. When Robards had sat down and Harry had flung himself into the chair like a petulant teenager, Draco sat back and waited for the explanation.

"That bitch…"

"Shut up, Potter. You could have compromised the case against her if you'd got to her first. If you want the reason your partner ended up half dead to walk free, then you acted in the right way." Robards held Harry's glare until Harry dropped his head, and then he continued, "You had better have a damn good explanation as to why you went storming after her."

Inhaling deeply, Harry shook his head. "I don't. I don't know, I just… she sold Draco out! He could have died because of her!"

"So you were going to do what, exactly? Punish her? Get her back?"

Under Robards' scornful questioning, Harry lowered his head and deflated some. "I'm sorry, I messed up because I was angry."

"Damn right you messed up. Luckily for you, we got to her before you did, and this fuck-up need never be mentioned in the Wizengamot. But you're suspended for a week, and you stay the hell away from this investigation, and the trial that will follow it. Same goes for you Malfoy; stay away."

"Am I suspended too?"

"You're on compassionate leave for a week. The two of you still have to deal with the press. Now get out of my sight."

Draco stood and followed Harry to the door. He was almost out when Robards spoke up in a softer tone.

"You did well, Malfoy."

"Thank you, Sir."

~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~

Though they were banned from going anywhere near the Palmer case, Ron had smuggled them a copy of the interview transcript, so Draco and Harry knew why Palmer had been feeding Viglione information.

It turned out she'd been slipping him information for over a year, helping him to avoid the Aurors' traps. Because she hadn't known about the long-distance Legilimency, she hadn't been able to warn Viglione. Palmer had confessed to telling him Draco's snow leopard was an Animagus form, but she swore blind that she'd believed he would just purchase a different animal and leave Draco at the fair. When he'd taken Draco, Palmer had panicked and tried to run. She'd been caught at her brother's home, trying to convince him to leave with her.

Draco sighed and sipped at his tea. He hadn't known her brother had been subject to a bad case of Dragon Pox, which had left him paralysed below the waist and practically a squib. The medical bills had been high, and Palmer had been slipping information to Viglione in exchange for the monthly deposits which covered the potions and home-care Healers that her brother needed. 

Draco found that he couldn't be mad at her, however much he wanted to. He knew that Harry was also struggling to lay the blame firmly at her feet – the Veritaserum had confirmed her honesty when she said she hadn't known Viglione would try and poison Draco. Draco also knew the lengths a person would go to, the risks they would take and people they would hurt, to do right by their family. 

But Viglione was in Azkaban, and wouldn't be getting out in this lifetime or the next. Palmer had been fired, but Draco had managed to persuade Harry to convince Robards not to press for charges to be brought against her. The last Draco had heard, she and her brother were moving to live with family in the States. So all in all, it had been a successful mission, and though Draco had enjoyed his week off with Harry, he was looking forward to returning to work the next morning.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Draco set his mug down on the coffee table and smiled at Harry when his lover entered the living room. "Hey you, can't sleep?"

"Just wanted to find you," Harry answered, stifling a yawn with his hand as he sank onto the sofa and slung his arm around Draco's shoulders. Summoning a blanket, Draco draped it over them and leant forward to capture Harry's lips in a sweet kiss. 

Warm hands moved under his shirt, and Draco shifted himself onto Harry's lap, straddling his thighs and cupping his face as he deepened the kiss. Tongues tangled together, and Draco could feel Harry's interest growing at the same rate as his own. Pulling back from the kiss, Draco sucked on Harry's bottom lip teasingly before breaking away. "We kicked arse!"

Laughing, Harry nodded and settled his hands on the swell of Draco's arse. "Yeah, we did. You got the evidence we needed to secure a conviction, and I hexed baddies!"

"Go us!" Draco laughed, ducking forward to drop a chaste kiss on Harry's lips, which soon turned heated. Running his hands up and through Harry's messy black locks, Draco tipped his head to the side to whisper, "How about we have one last celebration for closing the case?"

"Oh, I think we need at least another two or three."

Smirking, Draco nodded his agreement as he pushed the blanket to the floor and tipped him and Harry over on the sofa, straddling Harry's waist and preparing for a spectacular celebration.

 

 

**_Finish_ **


End file.
